2 June 2016
The Wheel of Life 9a (8C) by Alex Barrows
Alex Barrows has done The Wheel of Life in Grampians, which is a 70 moves horizontal endurance testpiece that Dai Koyamada put up as an 8C+ in 2004. Alex, who is on a 7.5 months road trip after getting his PHD, chose to give it a route grade of 9a, which seems to be the consensus grade to 8C nowadays.
Interesting, the endurance master who has done Era Vella 9a before, says soft 8B+ would have been his boulder grade. Full story in his well written blog (c) Ella Rusell
23 comments
Sort by:
Date
Reply
Most commented
Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, heโs already stacked four 9b+ sends and now heโs adโฆ
26 January 2026
Sean Bailey FAโs Duality of Man (9c)
Sean Bailey reports on Instagram that he has done the first ascent of Duality of Man (9c) in Dry Canyon. โ After four total years and three seasons of climbing,โฆ
23 March 2026
Jorge Diaz-Rullo proposes 9c for Cafรฉ Colombia
Jorge Diaz-Rullo elaborates on the reasons for him to suggest 9c for Cafรฉ Colombia on Instagram, which he took down last week after projecting it for 240 sessioโฆ
Related
Alex Barrows is a full-time PhD student in England who also finds time to train hard for climbing. He recently sent Era Vella (9a), and TrainingBeta did an inteโฆ
9 March 2013
8c+ (9a) by Alex Barrows
Alex Barrows has done the first repeat of Malcolm Smith's 45 move boulder route Pilgrimage in Parisella's cave, from 2004, giving it a personal grade of 8c+. (cโฆ
4 April 2015
Era Vella 9a by Alex Barrows
Alex Barrows has done his first 9a, Era Vella in Margalef after some serious projecting.
"3 trips, 5 months specific training, a shit load of replica problemsโฆ
Related news
Alex Barrows is a full-time PhD student in England who also finds time to train hard for climbing. He recently sent Era Vella (9a), and TrainingBeta did an inteโฆ
9 March 2013
8c+ (9a) by Alex Barrows
Alex Barrows has done the first repeat of Malcolm Smith's 45 move boulder route Pilgrimage in Parisella's cave, from 2004, giving it a personal grade of 8c+. (cโฆ
4 April 2015
Era Vella 9a by Alex Barrows
Alex Barrows has done his first 9a, Era Vella in Margalef after some serious projecting.
"3 trips, 5 months specific training, a shit load of replica problemsโฆ
Favorites
Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, heโs already stacked four 9b+ sends and now heโs adโฆ
16 March 2026
Ondra flashes 3*8C in two weeks
โI stopped focusing on competition bouldering after last yearโs World Cup in Prague, partly because I can already feel it on my body, especially in my shoulders. The modern competition style, with a lot of jumping from one hold to another, is very demanding for the shoulders.
Outdoor bouldering isโฆ
26 January 2026
Sean Bailey FAโs Duality of Man (9c)
Sean Bailey reports on Instagram that he has done the first ascent of Duality of Man (9c) in Dry Canyon. โ After four total years and three seasons of climbing,โฆ